Author Archives: Mark Wilson

The Geology Department at The College of Wooster is sending a record number of students to the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver next week. Seventeen students, eleven of whom are presenting in some way, will … Continue reading →
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It has been a good year for new fossil taxa on this blog. I’m pleased to present a fauna of Early Silurian crinoids from the Hilliste Formation (Rhuddanian) exposed on Hiiumaa Island, western Estonia. They are described in a paper … Continue reading →
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It was a beautiful day for fieldwork. Every fall I take Wooster’s Invertebrate Paleontology class into the field to collect specimens for study and analysis during the rest of the semester. It’s fun because these students have only completed two … Continue reading →
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These little brachiopods were also in the recent gift package from Clive Champion, our English brachiopod expert and friend. They tested my photographic skills, being too large for our photomicroscope and at the limit of resolution for my camera with … Continue reading →
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The Wooster  Geologists have started the school year with our traditional Geology Club group photo on a fine late summer morning. We’re looking forward to an exciting time with healthy course enrollments and enthusiastic Senior Independent Study students. Dr. Meagen … Continue reading →
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Last week I gave my students in Wooster’s Invertebrate Paleontology course a fossil to identify (shown above), using any techniques they want. This was their first task in the course, so it was difficult for most of them. I hope … Continue reading →
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Every year I start my Invertebrate Paleontology course by giving every student an “unknown” fossil to identify. (Here is last year’s version.) This is not always easy since each student gets the same species from the same horizon and with … Continue reading →
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Thanks to the hard work, skills and dedication of Administrative Coordinator Patrice Reeder, our 2016 annual report is now available. Continue reading →

Last month we featured a fossil slab kindly donated by Dale Chadwick of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Dale is an enthusiastic fossil collector with a very useful website for his favorite sites and specimens. I promised to show the other side of … Continue reading →
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One of the little mysteries on the recent Minnesota research trip by Wooster students, faculty and staff is the origin of thin limestone beds in the middle of the thick shales of the Decorah Formation (Upper Ordovician). How did such … Continue reading →
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